Basal cell carcinoma vs sebaceoma

Sebaceomas occur as a component of the Muir-Torre syndrome, itself a subset of the hereditary non-polyposis colon carcinoma syndrome.

Histopathology

The morphological features that favour sebaceoma over basal cell carcinoma are:

• a lobulated architecture

• lack of atypia

• low mitotic rate

• presence of sebaceous differentiation with cells containing multiple cytoplasmic vacuoles. BCCs, trichoblastomas and poromas may all show sebaceous differentiation. The appearance may be mimicked by clear cells in other tumour types. Sebaceous adenoma is defined as having more than 50% cells showing sebaceous differentiation.

• lack of stromal mucin (seen in BCCs).

• usually lack of a retraction artefact between epithelium and stroma (seen in BCCs).

• usually lack of peripheral palisading (seen in BCCs).

Immunohistochemistry

References

1 Fan YS, Carr RA, Sanders DS, et al. Characteristic Ber-EP4 and EMA expression in sebaceoma is immunohistochemically distinct from basal cell carcinoma. Histopathology 2007; 51:80-6

This page last revised 11.8.2007.

©SMUHT/PW Bishop